Assistive technology

Assistive technology or adaptive technology (AT) is an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them. AT promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks.

Likewise, disability advocates point out that technology is often created without regard to people with disabilities, creating unnecessary barriers to hundreds of millions of people. Even the makers of AT technologies will often still argue that universal design is preferable to the need for AT and that universal design projects and concepts should be continuously expanded.

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Contents

Overview

Assistive Technology is a generic term for devices and modifications that help overcome or remove a disability. The first recorded example of the use of a prosthesis dates to at least 1800 BC.[1] and the modern, lightweight, steel, collapsible wheelchair was created by Harry Jennings and his disabled friend Herbert Everest, in 1933.[2]

Examples of Assistive technology in architecture include the curb cut is a related structural innovation. Other examples are standing frames, text telephones, accessible keyboards, large print, Braille, & speech recognition computer software. People with disabilities often develop personal or community adaptations, such as strategies to suppress tics in public (for example in Tourette's syndrome), or sign language in deaf communities. Assistive technology or interventions are sometimes controversial or rejected, for example in the controversy over cochlear implants for children.

Universally accessible technology yields great rewards to the typical user as well; good accessible design is universal design. One example is the "curb cuts" (or dropped curbs) in the sidewalk at street crossings. While these curb cuts enable pedestrians with mobility impairments to cross the street, they also aid parents with carriages and strollers, shoppers with carts, and travelers and workers with pull-type bags.

People with learning disabilities like dyslexia or dysgraphia can find text-to-speech (TTS) software useful for reading and spelling programs useful when writing texts.

Computers, with their hardware extensibility, editing, spellchecking and speech synthesis software are becoming the cornerstone of assistive technologies, improving quality of life for those with learning disabilities and visual impairments. Spell assist programs and voice-recognition facilities are also bringing the text reading and writing experience to the wider public.

Toys that have been adapted to be used by children with disabilities might have advantages for non-disabled children as well. The Lekotek movement assists parents by lending assistive technology toys and expertise to families.

In the US many health professionals may be certified by RESNA to serve assistive technology needs: occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists/audiologists, orthotists and prosthetists, educators, and rehabilitation and health professionals.

Assistive technology products

Personal Emergency Response Systems

Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS), or Telecare (UK term), are a particular sort of assistive technology that use electronic sensors connected to an alarm system to help caregivers manage risk and help vulnerable people stay independent at home longer. An example would be the systems being put in place for senior people such as fall detectors, thermometers (for hypothermia risk), flooding and unlit gas sensors (for people with mild dementia). Notably, these alerts can be customized to the particular person's risks. When the alert is triggered, a message is sent to a caregiver or contact center who can respond appropriately.

Technology similar to PERS can also be used to act within a person's home rather than just to respond to a detected crisis. Using one of the examples above, gas sensors for people with dementia can be used to trigger a device that turns off the gas and tells someone what has happened.

Designing for people with dementia is a good example of how the design of the interface of a piece of AT is critical to its usefulness. People with dementia or any other identified user group must be involved in the design process to make sure that the design is accessible and usable. In the example above, a voice message could be used to remind the person with dementia to turn off the gas himself, but whose voice should be used, and what should the message say? Questions like these must be answered through user consultation, involvement and evaluation.

Accessible input devices for computers

Sitting at a desk with a QWERTY keyboard and a mouse remains the dominant way of interacting with a personal computer. Some Assistive Technology reduces the strain of this way of work through ergonomic accessories with height-adjustable furniture, footrests, wrist rests, and arm supports to ensure correct posture. Key guards fit over the keyboard to help prevent unintentional key presses.

Alternatively, Assistive Technology may attempt to improve the ergonomics of the devices themselves:

Input devices may be modified to make them easier to see and understand:

More ambitiously, and quite crucially when keyboard or mouse prove unusable, AT can also replace the keyboard and mouse with alternative devices such as the LOMAK keyboard, trackballs, joysticks, graphics tablets, touchpads, touch screens, foot mice, a microphone with speech recognition software, sip-and-puff input, switch access, and vision-based input devices, such as eye trackers which allow the user to control the mouse with their eyes.

Accessibility software

Main article: Computer accessibility

In human-computer interaction, computer accessibility (also known as Accessible computing) refers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people, regardless of disability or severity of impairment. Examples include Web accessibility a set of guidelines [6] and two accessible[7] web portals designed for people developing reading skills are peepo.com [1] — try typing a letter with your keyboard for more — and peepo.co.uk [2] with enhanced graphics, unique style controls and improved interactivity (requires an SVG supported browser).

Durable medical equipment (DME)

Mobility impairment

Assistive technology for visual impairment

Main article: Blindness#Adaptive techniques and aids

Many people with serious visual impairments live independently, using a wide range of tools and techniques. Examples of assistive technology for visually impairment is include the Canadian currency tactile feature, which a system of raised dots in one corner, based on Braille cells but not standard Braille.[8] For general computer use access technology such as screen readers, screen magnifiers and refreshable Braille displays has been widely taken up.

Hardware

Software

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)

Main article: Augmentative and alternative communication

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an umbrella term that encompasses methods of communication for those with impairments or restrictions on the production or comprehension of spoken or written language.[10] AAC systems are extremely diverse and depend on the capabilities of the user. They may be as basic as pictures on a board that the are used to request food, drink, or other care; or they can be advanced speech generating devices, based on speech synthesis, that are capable of storing hundreds of phrases and words.[11]

Modern use of AAC began in the 1950s with systems for users who had lost the use of speech following surgical procedures.[12] During the 1960s the use of manual sign language grew greatly, but it was not until the 1980s that AAC began to emerge as an area in its own right.[12] AAC is now used for a wide variety of speech impairments. Studies show that AAC use does not impede the development of speech, and may even result in a modest increase in speech production.[13]

A great diversity of diagnoses, including cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment, autism, and many others, cover varying degrees of communication impairment. AAC interventions are highly individualized, taking into account specific abilities of language comprehension, social-relational characteristics, learning strengths and weaknesses, and developmental patterns for specific types of intellectual disabilities.[14] AAC can be used to aid both spoken and written language, and can supplement or replace speech and writing as necessary. AAC can be a permanent addition to a person's communication or a temporary aid.[10] The systems used in AAC include gestures, hand signals, photographs, pictures, line drawings, words and letters,[15] which can be used alone or in combination to communicate.[16]

Aided AAC makes great use of symbols, particularly for non-literate users,[15] as well as a large variety of input methods. The specific access method will depend on the skills and abilities of the user. Body parts, pointers, adapted mice, joysticks, or eye tracking[17] could be used, whereas switch access scanning is often used for indirect selection.[18] In many cases, rate enhancements methods may be used to speed up the generation of messages.[15] Clearly, an evaluation of a user's abilities and requirements is necessary to match a user with the most appropriate AAC method, input approach, and vocabulary. This evaluation requires the input of family, particularly for early intervention. Respecting ethnicity and family beliefs are key to a family-centered and ethnically competent approach.[19] Adult AAC users generally have satisfying relationships with family and friends and engage in pleasurable and interesting life activities.

Deafness and hearing loss

Others

Claims Since children with autism process visual information easier than auditory information, when utilizing assistive technology claims that any time we use these devices with these children, we're giving them information through their strongest processing area (visual). Therefore various types of technology from "low" tech to "high" tech, should be incorporated into every aspect of daily living in order to improve the functional capabilities of children with autism.

Benefits Regarding comprehension skills, increasing comprehension of tasks/activities/situations is essential in addressing skill areas such as organization, attending, self help, following directions, following rules and modifying behavior. As a result, the child becomes more independent. The following "low" tech visual support strategies can be created and used to benefit and assist the child in increasing his comprehension skills and thus decreasing the occurrence of challenging behaviors.

Consistent daily use of an individualized visual schedule will increase a child's organization skills and independent functioning throughout all aspects of his life and will ease transition through adulthood. There are numerous ways to present visual schedules for example an object schedule, 3-ring binder schedule, clipboard schedule, manila file folder schedules, and dry erase board schedules are all beneficial to increase a child's organization skills and independent functioning.

The use of a weekly/monthly calendar at both home and school can provide the child with important information regarding up-coming events/activities, rather than relying on auditory information. When the child asks when a particular event will occur, he can easily be referred to the visual calendar. Use of a visual calendar can also be helpful in assisting the child to understand when regularly scheduled events may not occur.

Outcomes In a pilot study, Researchers Lacava, Golan, Baron-Cohen, and Myles explored the use of assistive technology to teach emotion recognition to eight children with Autism and the results indicated that after intervention, participants improved on face and voice emotional recognition for basic and complex emotions that were in the software. As well as for complex voice emotional recognition for emotions not included in Mind Reading.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Disability Social History Project
  2. ^ Everest, Herbert A., Jennings, Harry C., "Folding wheel chair", US Patent 2095411, 1937
  3. ^ Chubon, R.A., Hester, M.R. (1988). "An enhanced standard computer keyboard system for single-finger and typing-stick typing". Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development 25 (4): 17–24. PMID 2973523. 
  4. ^ Anson, D., George, S., Galup, R., Shea, B., Vetter, R. (2001). "Efficiency of the Chubon versus the QWERTY keyboard". Assistive-Technology 13 (1): 40–5. doi:10.1080/10400435.2001.10132032. PMID 12212435. 
  5. ^ PiTech
  6. ^ http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/page.cfm?pagecode=ISSIWD
  7. ^ http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/page.cfm?pagecode=ISSIWDAS
  8. ^ Accessibility features - Bank Notes - Bank of Canada
  9. ^ "What is an electronic reading aid?". Royal National Institute of Blind People. 2009-12-01. http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/Documents/What%20is%20an%20electronic%20reading%20aid.doc. Retrieved 2010-02-23. 
  10. ^ a b ASHA (2005).
  11. ^ Gilliam & Marquardt, pp. 356–359.
  12. ^ a b Glennen & DeCoste.
  13. ^ Schlosser & Wendt.
  14. ^ Beukelman & Mirenda.
  15. ^ a b c Mirenda.
  16. ^ Beukelman & Mirenda, pp. 246-249.
  17. ^ Mathy
  18. ^ Jans & Clark.
  19. ^ Perette et al. (2000).
  20. ^ assistivetech.net: Telephone Reassurance. Accessed 2009-08-06.
  21. ^ Brian O'Neill, Kate Moran, Alex Gillespie (2010). "Scaffolding rehabilitation behaviour using a voice mediated assistive technology for cognition". Neuropsychological Rehabilitation 18: 1–19. http://www.psychology.stir.ac.uk/staff/agillespie/documents/ONeillMoranGillespie_Scaffoldingrehabilitationbehaviour.pdf. 

References

Further reading